Drawn by Ice
by SouthernCookie
Summary: Short one-off. After Sakura had tried to manipulate Naruto by telling him that she loved him, she runs off and gets trapped in an ice storm, only to be saved by the person she had just hurt. Sakura X Naruto. No Lemons!


My back was freezing, but my front was warm. I felt weight against me, pinning me down, but it didn't bother me. His arm was behind me so my head rested in the crook of his elbow and his hand rested at my shoulder, while his other hand rested by my side, positioned to avoid all his body weight being on me. I was freezing, but he was giving me his warmth. I knew it was a boy lying on top of me and I knew he meant me no harm. I opened my eyes weakly to try to glimpse who it was but found that my face was in the crook of his neck. I heard howling outside and remembered where I was. I was in Samurai country where it snowed for most of the year. I had come with Kiba and Sai to stop Naruto from going after Sasuke, but it didn't go to plan. I had confessed my love to Naruto and he had shut me down, knowing I was lying to him. But there was some truth there, even if he chose not to see it.

I had never seen him so mad at me before and it had really hurt me. So I had run off, leaving Kiba and Sai behind. That was a big mistake. A storm had rolled in, but I didn't remember making it to shelter.

I felt the body above me shift and his neck lifted from my face so he could look down at me beneath him. I was surprised when I saw it was Naruto above me. The last I had seen of him he was so angry at me, but here he was, keeping me warm from the cold storm outside. He looked down at me with soft blue eyes and he gave me a small sweet smile, happy to see I was awake. He propped himself up above me with his arms. His hair was wet and flat from melted snow and his clothes and face were scratched up from running through branches and bushes. As he sat up the white and red striped cloak I had worn was draped over us in an attempt to keep us warm. I could see now that we were in a cave and the opening wasn't far behind Naruto where I could see the ice storm was still raging outside.

The moment Naruto was off me the cold gripped me again and I wished he hadn't moved at all. He untangled his legs from mine and moved to sit beside me, although I stayed lying where I was. The cloak still covered us both, but Naruto had to sit pressed against me for the two of us to stay covered. He watched the storm outside with tired eyes. Feeling the cold he moved to lie beside me so he would be better covered by the cloak too. My left side was kept warm by his right side as he watched the cave ceiling above.

"Naruto," I started, my voice stiff from the cold

"Sakura" he responded, waiting for me to say what I needed too.

"I'm sorry" I said ashamed at myself, "I didn't mean to hurt you"

He surprised me then by turning to face me and wrapping his arms around me, drawing me closer into a hug and I was warm again. We remained there, lying on our sides with his arms wrapped around me in the cold. My shame was catching me and it made me choke on a sob, Naruto held me tighter and I raised my cold hands to hug him back. He drew me closer till his chin sat on the top of my head and my face pressed against his neck and he held me till I stopped crying and fell asleep.

When I woke next it was dawn outside and I realised I had slept through the night. I felt pressure pressed against me and smiled when I knew it was Naruto still holding me to him. I pressed my face to his neck again, but he wasn't as warm as he had been before. His skin was colder. I was alarmed and released myself from his grip, kneeling beside him to check him. Naruto woke with my sudden movement and opened his eyes sluggishly to look up at me. His lips were blue and his skin was too cold to be normal. He had given me as much warmth as possible when he had found me out in the snow. He had saved my life yet again. I was still weak and my healing jutsu couldn't be used to warm someone's body. The storm outside had passed but I couldn't take Naruto out into the cold for that would surely kill him before I made it to any help and I wouldn't leave him here while I searched for any. I felt so pathetic and found myself crying again, the trail of tears chilling my face. Naruto smiled at me sweetly and raised a freezing hand to my face. His finger tips were slightly blue in colour but that didn't stop him for reaching out to me. I chocked on a sob when he touched my face. He then reached his hand behind my head and pulled me back down to lay me head on his chest. I let him do so and he wrapped his arms around me again.

"Sakura, why are you crying?" he croaked quietly to me.

"I can't help" I sobbed into his orange and black jacket. He used his hand that was holding my head to stroke my hair.  
"Naruto," I started, feeling I needed to tell him the truth, "When I told you I loved you, I wasn't lying" his hand stroking my hair froze; "I wasn't lying" I sobbed. He gave up stroking my hair and hugged me even tighter. It felt good having him hold me so tightly. It was a feeling that made me feel safe. I would do anything for a hug like that from him.

"Sakura" he said softly, but didn't finish. His grip around me loosened. I shot up to look to him, tears still freezing my face, but Naruto was out. I laid back on him and hugged him like he had hugged me. I was going to keep him warm like he had with me, I had too or I would lose him forever.

I hadn't realised I had fallen asleep till I heard a scratching noise close by. Opening my eyes I could just make out the shape of a small animal coming closer to us. It was a rat, one of Sai's painted rats. The weather outside was worsening again and the cold was beginning to set in.

"Sai" I croaked at the rat. It seemed to look at me for a moment before turning and running out of the cave. It would return to Sai and help would come. All we had to do was hold out for a bit longer. I checked that Naruto was still breathing. He was, but his breathing was raspy from the cold. I moved the cloak up to cover our entire bodies, including our heads to trap in all the warmth possible.

I had drifted off again, waking to hear footsteps entering the cave. I knew it was Sai, but I couldn't motivate myself to move. Sai stopped by us and lifted up the cloak, looked in then dropped the cloak back down.

"Captain Yamato, Kakashi!" he called and not long after I heard more footsteps enter the cave. Captain Yamato's hand came under the cloak without lifting it off us and he felt for my face, putting his hand to my forehead to fell my temperature then did the same to Naruto.

"They're both too cold. We have to get them back as soon as we can" he announced to the others in the cave.

"Sai, you and I will go on ahead and get a fire and hot food ready back at the motel. Captain Yamato, can you make a sled to pull them back on and Kiba, Akamaru can pull the sled"

They must have all agreed with Kakashi's plan because they all did what he had said without any words. While Yamato made the sled, Akamaru crawled under the cloak with use and lay beside us both. He smelt like wet dog, but I couldn't argue as his warmth felt incredible. I shifted on top of Naruto and he made a grumbled noise, but did nothing more.

"Sakura?" I heard through the cloak.

"Kiba?" I asked

"Yeah. We are going to move you both now onto the sled. Kakashi sent back some of his ninja hounds so they are going to pull the sled while Akamaru stays with you guys. How are you both?" he asked after explaining how they were going to move us.

"I'm alright, Naruto is worse off though" I replied

"Okay" replied Kiba, before reporting to Captain Yamato that we were ready to go.

The cloak was pulled off us and I got off Naruto as quickly as I could in my numb state. Kiba and Captain Yamato quickly picked him up and laid him down onto the sled. Akamaru jumped onto the sled and lay down next to Naruto while Kiba came back to help me onto the sled, laying me down onto Naruto so I could help keep him warm as well. Then Captain Yamato laid the cloak over us, tucking it in under us before he hoped onto the back of the sled. Kakashi's ninja dogs were already tied to the sled and they pulled away from the cave and into the icy winds of the oncoming ice storm. I guessed Kiba was running beside us as he kept talking to me every now and again, checking I was alright and trying to keep me awake. When Kiba wasn't talking to me I whispered to Naruto, hoping he would wake up, but he never responded and I could feel how cold he was compared to me.

When we pulled to a stop, the ice storm had arrived in full force and the cloak was doing nothing to keep us warm anymore. I heard Sai and Kakashi by us. The cloak was pulled off us and we were blasted with the icy winds that stung against my skin. Kakashi scooped me up. Holding me in his arms as he carried me inside the mostly vacant motel they had been staying in. He carried me up the stairs to the second floor and into the warm room. A blanket was laid in front of the fire place and he laid me down on it. I wanted to thank him but I was too busy looking around for Naruto.

I felt like I was drunk. The slightest movement made my head spin and Kakashi's features became more blurred, but I still knew it was him. He knelt beside me and spoke to me in a comforting way, but his words didn't register in my head. Naruto was brought in and my attention was completely on him. Captain Yamato laid him down beside me so he was closest to the fire. I rolled on my side and tried to sit up to try to heal him, but Kakashi's hand came down on my shoulder and he gently urged me to lie back down.

"Sakura, you are too weak. Rest for now. We won't let anything happen to Naruto. I promise" he said calmly. I couldn't argue with him about it.

They put a blanket over us and left us too rest, but they never left the room. I could feel their presence and their concern for us.

Kiba had asked how we had ended up out in the woods during a storm. He knew that I had left him and Sai behind which is how I ended up separated. Captain Yamato and Kakashi explained that when they showed up again without me Naruto had run off to find me during the storm. He had found me. Naruto had found me during the storm in the middle of the woods even after I had upset him so much. I was so glad to have someone in my life like Naruto. I rolled on my side, which caught the attention of everyone in the room, but they left me to be as I wrapped my arms around Naruto's arm and rested my head against his shoulder to sleep by the welcoming warmth of the fire as the storm howled outside.

When I woke next the fire and the storm were still going. Kakashi's presence was the only one I could sense in the room, but from the silence of the room I could tell he was asleep, though only lightly. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed I was enclosed by Naruto's arms. His skin was warm again and his face was level with mine. He must have noticed me jump from the surprise of him holding me as he opened his blue eyes to look into mine. He still looked tired, but he gave me a small smile that I felt make me blush. He hugged me tighter the way I liked it and closed his eyes again slowly, but his smile never left his lips as he leant in the kiss me on the lips. He lingered for a few seconds before moving back to look at me again. I was speechless, but I wrapped my arms around him. I felt so warm and so safe in his arms, a feeling I wanted to keep with me forever. Naruto leant forward again and kissed me lightly on my forehead before settling into sleep.

I watched him fall asleep, thinking of the last couple of days. How I had tried to manipulate him with my feelings to stop him chasing after Sasuke. But instead he had chased after me and saved my life and it had been our friends who had saved both our lives. I used to love Sasuke, but he had left and that was his choice. When we saw him again, he showed no interest in returning home with us. Sasuke was still a part of our lives, but when I thought back on it, it had always been Naruto. He defeated Garra to save me, he had almost died trying to bring back Sasuke because of a promise he had made to me and he had gone through so much for me. Why had it taken me so long to turn to him? If Sasuke had never left I would have remained blind to Naruto.


End file.
